A former BBC Scotland economics journalist from 1976-7, Liddell has taken flak for her closeness to media proprietor Robert Maxwell. Working as aide she once followed him on one occasion in to a Gents' toilet while being followed by a TV crew. She was also the public affairs director of Maxwell's Scottish Daily Record.[2]

After Maxwell's disgrace she tried to distance herself from him claiming that she had never worked for Maxwell.[3]

Helen Liddell published one novel about women in politics, called Elite (Century, 1990). The cover description calls it 'a riveting contemporary novel about the power of women in politics, and a story of manipulation – sexual, political and diplomatic'. In it, Ann Clark ('a Scottish Labour MP who has shot from prominence from nowhere and has now risen to become Scotland's most powerful figure') fights to repress her history of links with 'a home-grown terrorist organisation' while cementing her rise to power during the Cold War.